Harold Polk’s Forensic Intuition is a unique extension of his mastery of Speech Act Theory, enabling him to interpret traces of past actions as though they were lingering “speech acts” left behind. By focusing his mind, Harold attunes himself to the silent “statements” made by evidence of crimes, interpreting each item as a residual expression of intent and action. To him, every piece of evidence is a fragment of an unspoken story, a series of “acts” that reveal themselves under his scrutiny.
For an hour after activating this ability, Harold senses the presence, distance, and direction of all evidence of crimes within 50 feet, as if these traces are calling to him, revealing their locations and the intent behind their concealment. His understanding of Speech Act Theory allows him to “read” the manner in which each piece of evidence was hidden or secured, making him instinctively aware of the techniques used to disguise it and the steps required to access it. Harold’s mind treats these traces as hidden messages, piecing together actions and motives to uncover truths buried in silence. Through this heightened awareness, Harold becomes a linguistic detective, reading evidence as if it were the remnants of a conversation between crime and concealment.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute.
You automatically detect all Evidence Of Crimes within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. You do not learn any details about the detected items.
If no Evidence Of Crimes targets are within 50 feet of you, and then one enters range, you automatically detect it, even if this Effect is not active.
The means by which any Evidence Of Crimes are hidden or disguised is made clear to you, as well as how to access them if they are secured. This includes objects secured via the Stash Effect.
Who wouldn't want one of the mad scientist's famous implants? All it takes is a little time and a few terrifying experiments, and you too could be a better you!
Warning: not fully tested on humans. Risk of dry mouth, upset stomach, or lost limbs. Do not consult your doctor before signing the liability release.
Spend 30 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Your target must make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. The target can easily Resist.
You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Battle Scar and can have exactly one of the following Effects:
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see you're doing surgery on someone while their awake.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The beastmaster closes their eyes and channels nature's bloody struggle for survival. When their eyes reopen, they catch the light and glow red like a dog's. While in this heightened state, they may sense heat signatures and triangulate the tiniest sound.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.
Upon use, layers of Isaac fade away, stripping him of his corporeal form till only a semi transparent nervous system remains, yet his other layers still there but not seen.
His research has led him into more forbidden knowledge, throwing his mind through the ethereal plane. As a side effect, his soul absorbed an essence of the realm, allowing him to somewhat cross over. Using this, he slips slightly into the unseen plane of the spirit world, feeling cold and rattled while there.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action.
You and everything you are carrying is obscured in one of the following manners. Lasts 30 minutes.
While this Effect is active, any Effect that would obscure you or your equipment specifically from other, additional senses fails automatically.
If someone discovers you, this Effect will not help you hide from them for the next minute. This Effect does not end early when you activate an obvious Effect, attack, or receive an Injury.
You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see your skin fade away, then muscles, then skeleton, till all that’s left is a semi transparent nervous system.
Hank's lycanthropy becomes more invasive and agressive, leaving his form akin to a bipedal, anthropomorphic wolf, even after the full moon. His appearance is now that of a 7'2 humanoid wolf, with a full coat of black and white fur and a wolf's face and muzzle, tail and ears included.
His legs are now digitigrade, and his hands bigger in size. All these features make his lycanthropic nature extremely obvious, and his appearance specially intimidating during the night, when his red eyes show a slight glow.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: anthropomorphic wolf. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1 and your Perception is increased by 1.
You cannot be mistaken for a normal human. You cannot always use standard human clothes, equipment, vehicles, and facilities, and when you can, you suffer an increased Difficulty.
A slight glowing golden aura and bright white teeth glisten when I speak a command.
Just a natural progression...
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in minutes. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.
You may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking, reducing their Outcome by your own. Your command has no impact beyond disrupting their Action. This interrupts Concentration.
The Thief examines an object closely for a minute to appraise its value. As their eyes dance across the subject, their pupils split vertically, and their irises fade to gold. If it is a particularly valuable item, the Thief may greedily lick their lips, revealing a forked tongue.
Within a minute, they have determined how materially valuable the object is and why.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Unimportant characters just can't seem to hit our hero with their attacks. Injuries that are sustained from underlings are conveniently non-severe.
You gain the following benefits as long as the attacker isn't important enough to have a name.
You have 4 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
The mystic channels and communes directly with another person's spirit, allowing the two of them to freely exchange both physical and mental wounds between each other.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. Your target may Resist to cancel the transfer.
You may choose a single instance of one of the following to transfer from your target to yourself, or from yourself to them:
Whenever you transfer an Injury, it's Severity increases by 1. Whenever you transfer Mind damage or Traumas, the recipient takes an additional Mind damage.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
The Psychic can, with great focus and mental strain, channel their will to move objects with their mind.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
As long as you maintain Concentration, you can take Actions and interact with things that are within 75 feet without needing to physically touch them or be near them. Any rolls made for Actions taken in this way use a Mental Strength of 2 in place of your Brawn rating, a Mental Agility of 2 in place of your Dexterity, and otherwise use your own Attributes and Abilities.
Telekinetic actions have the following restrictions and behaviors:
Who wouldn't want one of the mad scientist's famous implants? All it takes is a little time and a few terrifying experiments, and you too could be a better you!
Warning: not fully tested on humans. Risk of dry mouth, upset stomach, or lost limbs. Do not consult your doctor before signing the liability release.
Exert your Mind and spend eight hours. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you cause a major Battle Scar instead of an augmentation. Your target must make a Trauma roll to reap the benefits of this Effect. They may choose to Resist the Effect and not make the roll. The target can easily Resist.
You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Battle Scar and can have exactly one of the following Effects:
The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.